LAKELAND - Over the past week, blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) advisories have been put in place for a handful of lakes in the Lakeland region, and residents are being reminded to be cautious when visiting lakes were the algae may be present.
Lac La Biche Lake, Garner Lake, which is located about 50 kilometres northwest of St. Paul, and Stoney Lake, located west of Elk Point, all have active blue-green algae health advisories.
Residents and visitors using the lakes for recreational purposes have been urged to avoid using areas of the lake where algae can be seen. Those who visit the lake should also be aware of the side effects that may occur if a person or animal comes in contact with blue-green algae, says Rolf Vinebrooke, a professor of Aquatic Ecology at the University of Alberta.
Blooming season
Vinebrooke says the tell-tale symptoms of skin irritation, rash, sore throat, sore red eyes, swollen lips, fever, nausea or diarrhea are just the beginning. If those symptoms last for more than 48 hours, or if the person or animal with the symptoms have other pre-existing conditions, the results can be worse.
The aquatic ecology specialist says only some of the compounds that blue-green algae produce are known to cause side effects, and many more factors are still being researched.
“Often, these health advisories will be based on detection of toxins that are very well-known in laboratories but there are other ones that can cause difficulties and problems with people. ... Blooming algae are capable of making a whole host of chemicals that can potentially be labelled as harmful,” he said.
Since surface-level algae can travel across a water body surface due to wind and currents, it can be difficult to know exactly where the trouble areas are, or will be, he added.
“With Lac La Biche being a pretty big lake with all kinds of little bays, coves and areas, it has a lot to do with which way the wind is blowing,” he says, offering his own, personal advice when dealing with similar advisories. “To a certain extent, you have to exercise common sense. I myself, would not let our kids go into an area that has an obvious, visual bloom happening on the surface of the lake.”
Pet problems
While people are able to use good judgment, it's also important to make sure pets are protected during blue-green algae outbreaks, says Dezerae Moldowan, Registered Veterinary Technologist (RVT) at the Lakeland Animal Care Group in Lac La Biche.
“It actually acts like a toxin in animals, so if they drink it or get it on their fur and lick themselves afterwards, it can actually cause toxic effects. We can see neurological effects, vomiting and those kinds of things,” she said.
The local vet clinic will create a treatment plan for pets based on what owners report. It is important to record how long contact occurred and what the symptoms are, said Moldovan.
“We diagnose based on what people have told us and then we would have to do a whole fluid flush. … It can affect their kidneys and all the rest of their organs. It can be very dangerous and even cause death in some animals,” she said.
It’s an issue that is increasingly common in the summer season in the region, she added.
“I would definitely caution on allowing your pets to run through the water or drink it. … Our lake is usually very good for pets; they can go swimming and enjoy activities.”
Ultimately, remember to wash your pets off if they swim in the lakes, she said.
“If your pet has run through water or got off their leash and you couldn’t control them, bathe them and make sure that they’re clean of any toxins —just soap and water is fine.”
Additionally, while it may be common for pet owners to feed their pets fish trimmings, during an algae bloom it’s not a good idea, she added.
“For the most part a lot of them are fine. You just have to remember that fish do have really fine bones that can get lodged, stuck or even pierce certain parts of the intestines."
Algae origins
Algae blooms traditionally begin growing in lakes during the spring season as light begins to penetrate through the thinner ice layers, explained Vinebrooke.
“Algae are actually resting over the winter. Typically if you take a water sample in winter underneath the ice, you’ll see very, very few phytoplankton or algae in the water. They are all basically resting in the sediment,” he said, explaining that once the ice melts, the algae are activated by the sun and the warming waters.
As the ice melts, the seasonal runoff from the surrounding land also changes the water body’s chemical makeup, said the expert.
One of the nutrients that supports algae blooms is phosphorus minerals that are not only found in the sediment of lakes but also come from fertilizer or soil runoff on areas that surround bodies of water, he explained.
“Typically in aquatic circles, phosphorus is considered to be the number-one nutrient that algae require the most,” Vinebrooke said, linking the nutrient levels to the timing of algae-bloom advisories.
“It will depend on runoff, spring ... melting cycles and how much water from the land is carrying the nutrients to the lake. That’s what first fuels a lot of the early algae blooms and phytoplankton blooms that you sometimes see in the early part of the year,” he told Lakeland This Week.
Plenty of nutrients
While phytoplankton and less impactful species of algae disappear, because they are traditionally a food source for invertebrates and fish living in the lakes, the blue-green algae flourish from the warm temperatures and phosphorus nutrients that remain, he added.
“As the temperature of the lake gets warmer and warmer... they then have more than enough nutrients to really start growing a lot and the warmer temperature also helps their growth rates.”
As long as warmer temperatures and an abundance of phosphors are present, the algae will continue to rapidly grow, he said — but offered a little bit of hope to the annual situation, explaining that once the heat and nutrient loads aren’t rising anymore, the bacteria can die very quickly.
In the mean time, Alberta Health Services (AHS) and local officials continue to monitor the lake quality in the main water bodies across the Lakeland region.
Algae alerts can be in place for days or weeks, depending on the weather.
